


Save the Turtles

by emperorpenguin (dortmundbvbbabe)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst with a Happy Ending, Barista! Matthew, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, flirting over coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26432827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dortmundbvbbabe/pseuds/emperorpenguin
Summary: Matthew is possibly the world's worst barista and Leon is the customer that keeps coming back to the small coffee shop near campus.
Relationships: Leon Draisaitl/Matthew Tkachuk
Comments: 14
Kudos: 190





	Save the Turtles

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really proud of this one and parts are based off my own experience as a barista. I hope you all enjoy.

Leon didn’t really know what made a good barista a “good barista” but he certainly knew that Matthew was a bad barista. In fact, he was pretty sure that Matthew was the worst barista in Calgary if not the entire world. 

The coffee shop was close enough to the University of Calgary that it made it easy for Leon to take a break between his classes, but it was far enough away that it wasn’t packed with undergrads who didn’t use coffee shops as study spaces and instead thought it was a part of their fraternity.

Leon loved everything about the coffee shop: the background music, the pastries that were backed by David every morning, the single-origin featured roasts that cycled through on a weekly basis, and the tip jars that featured a local charity every month. He loved everything about the shop except Matthew. Matthew truly was the worst barista that Leon had ever seen.

He had a grin that Leon was pretty sure Matthew used to try and get tips from customers. Leon was pretty sure that some of the girls in his Graduate Seminar would fall for it. 

“You can get a 10 cent discount if you bring in a reusable mug,” Matthew said.

“I don’t have a reusable mug,” Leon said.

“If you get one, it would pay for itself in 200 uses,” Matthew said.

“Do you think I’m going to come here 200 more times?” Leon asked.

“You can save the turtles,” Matthew said. 

Leon thought it might be aggressive to say  _ Fuck the turtles _ . He didn’t actually hate turtles, but he was really starting to hate Matthew and this conversation.

“Just the coffee today,” Leon said. 

Matthew turned and grabbed a cup of coffee, slid a sleeve on it, and filled it with the brew. 

“Here you go,” Matthew said. 

“Thanks,” Leon said dryly and put his bag down on the chair. He pulled out his papers and laptop and set about studying for at least the next couple of hours. 

Every now and then he would glance over at Matthew and watch his customer interactions. Leon watched as an older couple ordered from the counter and Matthew grinned at them as he finished their order. Leon watched in shock as the couple dropped a five dollar bill in the tip jar.

After about three hours, Leon stood up to stretch and headed to the pastry case. “I’ll take a refill on the coffee and a raspberry scone, please.”  
“You could have already been down to 199 uses on that mug,” Matthew said. 

“Are you this annoying to all your customers,” Leon snapped. 

For a moment, Matthew’s grin dimmed before it came back although a little forced, “Only the customers who don’t like the environment.”

Leon took a bite of the scone while Matthew refilled his coffee, “Oh my God, this is delicious,” Leon said as crumbs flew out of his mouth.

“David’s the best,” Matthew said emphatically, “He bakes everything fresh in the morning and this was a new recipe that he was trying out.”  
“He should make them again,” Leon said as he carried the food and coffee back to his table to stay for a few more hours. Matthew might be the world’s worst barista, but he was pretty sure that David might be the world’s best baker. 

Leon returned the next day as he had an early start to the morning and a day packed full of meetings. He hadn’t had a chance to finish all of his readings for the day and he had a 8-person seminar in the afternoon where the professor cold-called liberally.

“Hey, can I get an americano?” Leon asked. 

“You bet. Are you a student?” Matthew asked.

Leon sighed, he just wanted his damn americano, “Yeah, I’m a grad student.” 

“Cool, what are you studying?” Matthew asked.

“Sociology,” Leon replied, “Are you?” 

Matthew shook his head, “I’m taking a couple of years off until I figure out what I want to do.”

“Cool,” Leon said, trying to be as polite as possible while getting out of the conversation, “Well, I have some readings to do so…” Leon gestured to one of the tables by the open windows. He occasionally glanced over to Matthew where he probably should have been cleaning or brewing coffee but instead always seemed to meet Leon’s glance with a cheeky smile. Yeah, Matthew was the world’s worst barista. 

The next time that Leon visited the cafe, Matthew was nowhere to be seen, but instead there was a man whose name tag read Mikael. It was quieter than Leon was used to and the service was better. 

“Can I get a name for the order?” Mikael asked after Leon had ordered an americano, he held his Sharpie above the cup ready to record his name. 

“Leon,” he replied.

“Are you German?” Mikael asked as he wrote Leon’s name on the cup. 

“Yeah, how did you know?” Leon asked as he dropped an extra two dollars in the tip jar. 

“Your accent sounded European but not Scandinavian,” Mikael shrugged, “I’m from Sweden so…”

“How does a Swede end up here?” Leon asked.

“My wife is finishing up her PhD at the university,” Mikael said, “So I work here part time and then I take care of our baby.”

“That’s really nice. I just came here by myself for school, I haven’t been back to Germany in a while, but I kind of miss it.” Leon said. And he meant it. It had been a while since he’d had anyone to go home to, but he’d shelved that part of his life until after he finished his masters program. 

“Well, here’s your drink, Leon,” Mikael said. “Have a good one.”   
  


Leon found himself genuinely excited to go back to the cafe after his conversation with Mikael. But to his chagrin, Matthew was behind the counter. 

“Hi, Leon,” Matthew said. 

“How do you know my name?” Leon frowned.

“We make a habit to know the names of our favorite customers,” Matthew grinned, “But seriously, Mikael said that you seemed a little homesick the last time that you stopped by so…”

Leon smiled faintly, “Yeah, I kind of was. Am I your favorite customer?” 

“I have many favorites,” Matthew said, “But, uh, have a muffin, on us today. David made pineapple coconut ones this morning.”

“Do you do this for all your favorite customers?” Leon asked.

“Just the homesick ones,” Matthew said. 

“Thanks,” Leon raised the muffin as if he was raising a toast and as he sat down to study, he pulled out his laptop and decided to book a flight for the day after his last final. Maybe a trip back home for the holidays was just what he needed, and since his TA stipend was pretty generous this semester, he could afford the extra expense. 

_ Show your pride and donate to Calgary’s LGBT Youth Center _ read the post-it clumsily taped to the donation box. There was a crudely drawn rainbow over the sign as well. 

“Pride month is in June,” Leon said. 

“Pride month is every month if you’re a member of the LGBT community,” Matthew said and there was a sharp edge to his tone. 

And Leon knew that, like of course he knew that, he was gay, but he didn’t think Matthew was going to be ally of the year or whatever. Whether it was out of guilt, a spark of genuine generosity, or because Leon knew if things were different, he could have been needing those resources, he fished out a 20 and put it in the donation box along with an extra five for Matthew. 

“Here’s your drink,” Matthew said after he finished making the americano. 

“Oh, thanks,” Leon said. He waited for a continuation of Matthew’s banter, but he seemed to have settled into a bad mood and Leon realized that he actually might have hurt Matthew’s feelings, but he didn’t know how to apologize. He occasionally glanced over to Matthew, and unlike the previous times before, Matthew never spared him a glance. Not even once.

The next time Leon stopped by, both Mikael and Matthew were there and Matthew seemed to be in a continuation of his bad mood. “I think it’s really awesome that you guys are collecting money for the LGBT Youth Center.”

“It’s a really important charity to- to us,” Mikael said, “You know we try to make the cafe a safe space for everyone. ”

Leon smiled and nodded, “I think that’s wonderful.” 

Mikael seemed to give an unreadable look to Matthew who just glared back.

“What would you like today?” Mikael asked. 

“Just a coffee,” Leon replied, “And you can throw the rest in the donation jar.”

Mikael tossed the couple of dollars and change into the jar to benefit the Youth Center. 

“Thanks, guys,” Leon said. 

He was sitting at the table which had become  _ his  _ table when he heard the chair pull out across from him.

“Leon,” one of the girls that was in the class he TA’d for quietly said his name.

“Hi,” Leon wracked his brain for the girl’s name. Melanie, maybe. 

“I had a few questions about this week’s lecture, is it okay if I ask them?” 

Usually Leon would tell his students to wait until next week when they had recitation, but there was a test this week and he had some time to spare. 

“Sure, what are your questions?” Leon asked.

The girl had a few questions, good ones at that, about social capital and upward mobility. It had been a while since Leon had done those readings but he knew enough about European social strata that Leon could provide tangible examples to the theory. 

He was engrossed in the conversation since he rarely had time outside of school to discuss the things he was actually passionate about. He was transfixed in the conversation until he heard raised voices from the espresso bar. 

“I asked for a cappuccino,” an older man said, “Do you not know what a cappuccino is?”  
“I’m sorry, I can remake it for you,” Matthew said, trying to placate the man’s anger. He reached for the cup to remake it, but the man slammed the coffee on the counter, causing it to spill out of the cup and onto Matthew. 

It was almost instantaneous that Leon got out of his chair and headed for the counter.

“Please do not speak to him that way,” Leon said, “He said he would remake it but your behavior is deplorable.”

“Don’t bother, idiots like you are why this country is going downhill,” the man huffed off and left his spilt coffee over the counter.

Leon reached over and grabbed Matthew’s hand, the immediate effects of the hot milk starting to cause the skin to turn red. “Shit, you should run it under cold water,” Leon said. 

“That was a little embarrassing,” Matthew said with a watery grimace.

“He was out of line,” Leon said, “And nobody should ever talk to you or treat you that way. Is Mikael still around?”

Matthew shook his head, “He went home for the day.”  
“Okay, why don’t you take a moment in the back, go run your hand under cold water and I’ll keep an eye out for any customers and I’ll let you know if anyone comes in.”

“Matthew, you’re shaking,” Leon said kindly, “Take a moment in the back, I’ll take care of things up front.”

Leon stood diligently by the counter while Matthew headed in the back, keeping his promise to watch out for any new customers while the counter was unattended. He told Melanie that she could email him any remaining questions, but his priority was making sure Matthew was okay. The encounter had rattled Matthew and had hurt him and Leon knew that despite Matthew’s nonchalant exterior, the words had affected him. 

When Matthew came back a few minutes later, he looked a little more composed. “Thanks,” Matthew said with a shaky smile.

“Are you okay?” Leon asked.

“I’ve been burned by coffee before,” Matthew said.

“I didn’t mean just that,” Leon said.

“I’ll be okay,” Matthew said.

“People like him are assholes, thinking they can treat others so poorly,” Leon said, “You deserve better,” Leon said. 

Matthew smiled a genuine smile, “Pretty soon I’ll start thinking that you actually like me.”

Leon rolled his eyes, but smiled back, “See, I can be nice, but it’s a one-time thing.”

Leon headed back to his table and even after he finished his work, he stayed a little longer to ensure that no other customer gave Matthew a hard time. 

“It’s on the house,” Mikael said when Leon stopped by a few days later. 

“The benefits of meeting a fellow European,” Leon said.

“Matthew told us what you did for him,” Mikael said, “And we all really appreciate it.”

“Anyone would have done that,” Leon said.

“Believe me, most people wouldn’t have,” Mikael said. 

“Is he okay?” Leon asked.

“Yeah,” Mikael said. 

“I’m glad,” Leon said.

“He’s a good guy, despite his outward projection sometimes,” Mikael said.

“I know,” Leon said, and he did. Despite Matthew still probably being the worst barista in the world he was a good person and Leon had seen that since he’d started to frequent the cafe. Maybe Matthew was rough around the edges but Leon had grown to like him, despite his better judgement. 

Finals rolled around and that meant more time studying outside of the cafe. For the everyday preparations before class he enjoyed a little bit of background noise which the cafe was perfect for, but when it came time for him to actually hunker down and study, Leon would spend hours in the library, sandwiched between other stressed graduate students in a cubicle. He’d still visit the cafe, if only to see friendly faces, but he never stuck around. And sometimes, he imagined that Matthew looked disappointed when Leon waved goodbye as he headed out of the cafe to spend several hours pouring over his class notes and reading materials. He carried a lot of stress in the weeks leading up to the end of the semester and as a result, Connor made him promise that they would do something fun after the semester ended.

So, Leon ended up at a gay club with Connor the night after their finals, not unfamiliar to the clubbing scene, but certainly unaccustomed to the clubs in Calgary, let alone the gay clubs. Connor had been supportive when Leon had come out to him after a graduate school mixer, where Connor had spent half the evening suggesting Leon talk to different girls who he had classes with. Leon had simply told him that he was gay that night at the third bar that they’d gone to. Connor looked slightly uncomfortable, though Leon suspected that it had more to do with the blaring music and the flashing lights than the fact that they were in a gay club. It had been Connor’s idea anyways and since it was the end of the term and they’d taken their last final earlier in the day, Leon didn’t have a good reason not to. 

He was willing to let go, though, tonight, a night with no responsibilities. He glanced around the club and saw Matthew under the flashing club lights. 

“Are you here for a friend?” Matthew asked. 

“Is this your way of asking if I’m gay or not?” Leon asked.

“Are you?” Matthew asked.

“Yeah,” Leon said.

“You never mentioned it before,” Matthew said.

“It’s not exactly a conversation that you usually have with your barista,” Leon said.

“So I’m  _ your _ barista now,” Matthew grinned.

“No, fuck, you are a guy who is a barista at the cafe that I frequent,” Leon said. “There.” 

Matthew approached Leon, closing the distance between them and slowly, gently placed a hand on the small of Leon’s back. “Do you want to dance or we can get out of here or you know, you can tell me to fuck off…”

“What do you want?” Leon asked.

“Ideally, I’d like to take you back to my place,” Matthew said, “And then-” It was hard to hear what Matthew was saying in the club, but Leon could only imagine the things that he was saying.

“Okay, let me just say goodbye to my friend,” Leon said. Leon found Connor in the club and let him know he was heading out. Connor looked relieved, both at the fact that Leon was going home with someone and the fact that Connor could finally go home without bailing on his friend. 

Matthew carefully planted a hand on Leon’s back as they headed out of the club and Matthew led him back to his apartment. They walked briskly through the Calgary streets and Leon could almost feel Matthew vibrating with excitement on the way. 

“Here’s my place,” Matthew said as he opened the door to a modest apartment. It was clearly a bachelor pad, but there were a few personal items that made it a home. Matthew flicked on the lights, “Do you want anything to drink? I can make us a pot of coffee.”  
Leon rolled his eyes, “Did you really ask me to come back to your place to drink the same coffee that I get every day at the cafe?”

Matthew just grinned. It was the same grin that he had given him every day since Leon had first started going to the cafe. And suddenly, Leon knew that it meant more than just a friendly smile for getting tips. It had been a smile for him. 

“Where’s your bedroom?” Leon asked.

“Over here,” Matthew said as he led the way, forgoing any thoughts of coffee or talking at the table.

Matthew kissed with decisiveness and determination. “Are you sure about this?” Leon asked.

“What afraid to go beyond customer and barista?” Matthew asked, but after receiving a glare from Leon smiled gently, “Yes, I want this. I wanted you since I saw you at the club.”

Leon kissed him back, quickly stripping out of his jacket and stepping out of his pants while Matthew did the same. 

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Leon said as he pulled off Matthew’s shirt to reveal a toned stomach and abs. Matthew smiled at the way that Leon smiled at him. 

“I’ve wanted to do this for a while,” Matthew said.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know you were gay until tonight,” Matthew said. 

Leon smiled, “I definitely am.”

  
  


“I should really go,” Leon said after they finished. Matthew had wrapped his arm tightly around Leon’s waist and pulled him close in the bed that was really too small for two grown men to comfortably fit. He still had to pack and his flight left at 11 am which meant that he needed to be at the airport at least by 9. 

“Stay,” Matthew said.

“Okay, for a little bit,” Leon said. He set his alarm for five in the morning. 

And the alarm rang far too soon for Leon’s liking. Matthew blearily rolled over. “Shh… go back to sleep,” Leon said after he turned off his alarm and retrieved his items of clothing from the floor.

“Are you leaving?” Matthew said groggily. 

“Yeah, I have to go,” Leon said, “My flight’s this morning.”  
“Ok,” Matthew said as he rolled over. Leon wasn’t sure if Matthew was just half-asleep or if he genuinely didn’t care that Leon was flying back home for the holidays, but he didn’t have time to stick around and figure it out. 

“I’ll see you later,” Leon said. 

He made it to the Calgary airport as planned, heading for a stopover in London before returning to Koln. He smiled at the memories of what they did the night before. He could almost feel the impression of Matthew’s lips on his body. It had been a long time since he’d gone home with someone and an even longer time since he’d wanted to go back out on a second date with someone. Two weeks might be a while, and Leon was genuinely excited to see his family, but in a way he was excited to return to Calgary, to see Matthew and pick back up where they left off. 

It was good to see his family. He went to a Christmas Market and bought a reusable mug, recalling his first memorable conversation with Matthew. By New Year’s Day, though, Leon was ready to return to Calgary. He missed classes, he missed Canada, and he found himself missing the world’s worst barista, Matthew. 

After he returned to his Canadian apartment, put some laundry in the washing machine to freshen it up, he headed over to the cafe. This time he didn’t bring work, he just wanted to see Matthew on the off chance that he was working. As he got closer to the cafe, sure enough he saw Matthew, but instead of being behind the bar he was seated at a table and he wasn’t alone. Across from Matthew was a guy a little younger than Leon, probably closer to Matthew’s age with brown floppy hair. Leon’s mouth dried out as he watched Matthew give the man a smile, the smile that he was accustomed to seeing towards himself and watched as Matthew reached out a hand to hold onto the other man’s. Leon could have reasoned with himself that they were just friends, maybe good friends at that, but then they both stood up and Leon watched as Matthew hugged him tightly. His hand wove up into the other man’s hair to hug him tightly. 

_ Oh _ . Shame and embarrassment overwhelmed Leon. It had only been two weeks, but Matthew had moved on. Or maybe he hadn’t moved on, but maybe Leon had just been holding onto what Matthew had thought of as a one-night stand. 

Leon turned around, chastising himself for how silly he’d been. He was just a customer to Matthew, it was just a club hookup between two people who knew each other. 

He tried to find a new coffee shop. He didn’t want to go back and see Matthew and have to have an awkward conversation about what had happened. Tim Horton’s didn’t have the right atmosphere to do work in and Starbucks was too full of people who didn’t appreciate coffee. He missed Matthew’s shitty latte art and his sarcasm and David’s pastries. 

He ran into Mikael when he least expected it, outside of the coffee shop. He was at the first graduate student mixer of the spring semester and he saw Mikael with a blonde woman who Leon recognized from the PhD program. Probably his wife based on what Leon had remembered Mikael saying in the coffee shop. Leon politely waved at Mikael from across the bar and Mikael headed over. 

“I haven’t seen you around lately,” Mikael said. 

Leon shrugged, “I’ve been trying a couple of new places, lately. Plus, I headed back to Germany for the holidays so it’s been a little while.”

“Does this coincide with the reason that I’ve had a very miserable coworker lately?” Mikael said.

“He probably told you already,” Leon said.

“He didn’t tell me anything that I can’t already see,” Mikael said, “But you’re unhappy and he’s unhappy and it seems to me that this is easy to fix.”

“I guess, we just wanted other things,” Leon said, “I expected too much I guess and that’s my fault and not fair to put on him, but yeah.”

“And what is it that you think Matthew wanted?” Mikael asked.

“Something casual,” Leon said. 

“He works on Friday until 3,” Mikael said, “If you wanted to see what Matthew wanted.” 

Leon wasn’t sure if he did, but Mikael seemed to think that he should.

It took Leon a good three hours Friday morning to work up the courage to go back to the cafe and see Matthew. He didn’t want to explain how he’d wanted more and when he said he’d see Matthew later he’d meant as a date. But Leon knew if he wanted to make the cafe his regular study space again, he’d have to go back.

So he did, and when he walked in, Matthew turned to greet him as he would for most customers, but the greeting died off, “Hi-”

“Hey,” Leon said as he headed to the counter.

“I haven’t seen you around lately,” Matthew said, “I thought I might have scared you off.”

Leon laughed bitterly, “Believe me, that was not the case.”

Matthew brightened up with what looked like hope, “Do you want to talk later? I’m done with work in about a half hour if you don’t mind waiting?”

“I don’t mind,” Leon said, “I’ll take a latte though, if that’s okay? I brought a reusable cup this time.” He showed Matthew the cup that he’d brought back from the Christmas Market.   
Matthew nodded, “Sure,” as he rang Leon up. 

Mikael came in about fifteen minutes later for the start of his shift and his eyes widened when he saw Leon sitting back in the cafe.

“Get out of here, Matthew,” Mikael said, and despite Matthew’s early protests, Matthew clocked out a few minutes early.

“Do you want to talk here or somewhere else?” Matthew asked as he headed over to Leon. “I don’t mind staying here, but we probably won’t get much privacy with Mikael working.”  
“Yeah, we can head out,” Leon said as he grabbed the remainder of his latte and followed Matthew outside. It wasn’t far to Matthew’s apartment, but walking there this time felt so much different. 

“What happened?” Matthew asked.

“I headed back home for two weeks,” Leon said, “Back to Germany and then when I came back, I guess things were different.”

“Yeah, we probably shouldn’t have slept together,” Matthew said, and Leon’s heart sank. 

“Oh, um, okay,” Leon said, and he was about to stand up to leave, but Mikael had seemed so sure that there were things that needed to be said between them. “I came back wanting more...with you.”  
Matthew’s face scrunched up in confusion, “Why did you stop coming by then? I mean I knew you had a flight and we hadn’t exchanged information beforehand, but...”

“I did,” Leon said, “And I saw you on a date with a guy and well, I didn’t really know how to deal with that.” 

“What date?” Matthew asked.

“I don’t know, young guy, floppy hair,” Leon shrugged, “And that’s fine, but when I was in Germany I kind of realized that I wanted to date you and not just hook up or whatever.”

“Okay, let’s get a couple of things straight,” Matthew said. “Firstly, you saw Robbie, my best friend who is definitely not gay and is more like a brother or anything and yeah, I can see why you misunderstood because we’re always on top of each other and have no concept of personal space. But why didn’t you just ask?”

Leon shrugged, “Probably for the same reason that you never asked me out at the cafe.”

“I wanted to. Are you kidding me? I spent so much time wondering if I should give you my number and asking Mikael if he thought you were interested in men. And then I thought you might be homophobic because of the whole thing with the donation jar. I have to say I wasn’t expecting to see the cute customer that I’ve been crushing on at the club.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you there either to be fair,” Leon said.  
“I was really happy when you went home with me,” Matthew said, “All this time I thought you were annoyed by me and then you were interested in me.”

“I am by the way, interested in you,” Leon said with a grin, “In case that needed to be clarified.”

“I think that’s clear now,” Matthew said, “And then when you stopped showing up…”

“You thought it was because we hooked up,” Leon said.

“Yeah,” Matthew said.

“So where does that leave us?” Leon asked.

“I want to take you on a date that doesn’t involve coffee or clubs and I want you to tell me all about the stuff that you’re learning in classes that makes you light up, the way you did with that girl the one day.”  
“You _were_ watching,” Leon said. 

“Yeah, of course, at first I thought she was a date or something and then I realized quickly that you wouldn’t abandon a date to help me out,” Matthew said.

“I definitely would,” Leon said, “Especially since you’re the only one I’ve wanted to date in a while.”  
Matthew smiled and reached out his hand to cover Leon’s. 

“Come on, I bought a reusable cup for you,” Leon said. 

“Here, I thought it was for the turtles,” Matthew said. 

Leon rolled his eyes but reached to pull Matthew in for a kiss. “Sure, it was for the turtles.”


End file.
